The Value of Labor
In an editorial published in the News-Journal today, Paul Greenberg reminds us that in Hebrew, worship and work share the same word: avodah. This is a hint of the importance of work. We see a further example of this in Genesis Chapter 2. God's created Man and is giving him the Garden of Eden as a paradise in which to live. But even in this paradise, man is expected work. Genesis 2:15 tells us:
The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.
In paradise, we are expected to worship God, and one of the ways we fulfill that mission is through work. How much more in this world should be be expected to worship God through our work? Now, this doesn't mean we can claim our work is our worship and ignore God either in our work or make other time for worship. Rather, we must do all that we do remembering God and doing it for Him. Saint Francis de Sales recommended a Direction of Intention any time we are undertaking a new action. There are many different versions, but the one I was taught goes as follows:
My God, I give you this action I am about to perform, with you and through for you. In advance, I offer you all the good I may do, and accept all the difficulty I may meet therein.
It allows us to keep God always on our minds and remember that we should do everything with Him, through Him and for Him. That's the true meaning of labor: doing everything we do so that it may meet the Will of God and be pleasing to Him and draw ourselves and others closer to Him. It why we would be working, even if we were still in the Garden of Eden: so that we could draw closer to Him and share in His work of creation and sanctification. So, when you return to work, remember to do it for God.